1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention is amusement devices, and in particular electronically controlled amusement devices.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
As an amusement device, the model car racing systems have, for well over the past decade, generated an enormous amount of enthusiasm and commercial interest. As the interest in such devices has increased, so has the number of different systems for racing the cars, such as "slot" car, "slotless", steerable car and so on. Moreoever, the tracks involved range from simple two car slot car tracks around a simple oval to multiple track pairs disposed through an assortment of curves and loops to increase the operating skill required to maintain the car on the track, the realism of the system and the consequent increase of enjoyment obtained by operation of the roadrace system.
Various commercial attempts have been made to improve the model roadrace systems of the prior art and to increase the realism of the model systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,118, issued to Mabie, et al. discloses an electronic lap counter for vehicular racing games. A light board is used to display the completed lap count.
Another attempt to increase the sophistication and realism of a roadrace system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,711, issued to Conklin, et al. This patent discloses a system for counting laps completed, timing individual laps, the elapsed race time, and visually indicating these parameters to the operators.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,193, issued to Labis, illustrates an electronic horse racing game, wherein the speed of the horses is randomly varied. Display means for displaying the race odds and the race winner are disclosed.
Another pertinent reference is U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,309, issued to Sato, which illustrates a roadrace system with a pit section, which is branched from the main track section and which is utilized for literally recharging the batteries of the race cars.
While each of the above patents represents attempts to increase the sophistication and realism of the roadrace games, each falls quite short of providing a realistic race environment which includes car sounds, failure, race winner declaration and the like.